Uconn

Huskies bring in recruits to beef up O-line By Ed Daigneault Republican-American

Cheerleaders stand behind Bob Diaco, former Notre Dame defensive coordinator, as he is introduced as Connecticut's new head football coach during a news conference on campus in Storrs, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

UConn football coach Bob Diaco didn't approach his first recruiting class as if he were trying to sell vacuum cleaners door-to-door. With only a month for him and his staff to secure already committed players and to dig up a few more, Diaco didn't have time for such things.

Not that he would ever do it like that.

"I didn't do any selling," Diaco said on a conference call Wednesday after receiving 14 signed letters of intent from a class that also includes two players already enrolled at UConn. "I presented what I believe the university and the program to be. If it was exciting for them to be a part of it, fine. I told all of them, this is the way it's going to be. If you have issues with that, don't come here because you're not going to have success. This isn't going to be the environment for you if you're not 100 percent bought in.

"Selling is not how we conduct our business."

Diaco said he is excited about the players who are officially committed, but there has never been a coach who has said he is disappointed about a recruiting class. But given the short time he had to convince those players who committed to former coach Paul Pasqualoni to remain with the Huskies and picked up eight new commitments in the last few weeks, Diaco probably should be excited.

The majority of those who committed to Pasqualoni remained solid in their choices, including star Ansonia running back Arkeel Newsome. He is the first Parade All-American to choose the Huskies.

Newsome was one of three running backs to sign a letter of intent, joining Suffield Academy's Brice McAllister and Ron Johnson of Naples, Fla. Diaco said the Huskies bolstered the tailback position significantly, but the real bolstering came where the Huskies had the largest need.

Diaco signed five offensive linemen, four of whom chose

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the Huskies in the last couple of weeks after Diaco and his staff went to work. Diaco was particularly pleased that the offensive linemen are "big guys."

"We know what we're going to be able to do with these pieces of clay," Diaco said. "When you have a big guy, you have much less chance to miss. When you recruit a little guy, he might have great game-changing value, but he might not. There are a lot of things you can do if you're big."

That doesn't mean those big guys will step in and play right away. Typically, the bigger the player, the more time he needs to develop. That seems to be the case here.

"It's hard up front," Diaco said. "The closer they get to the ball, the harder it is. The massive volume of reps and weight training really shows itself on the offensive and defensive lines. The ability to generate ballast and core strength is so much more pronounced in older than younger players.

"I'm not saying they won't play, but it's not optimal."

Also not optimal is having a class devoid of a quarterback. Former St. Paul standout Logan Marchi was to be that one quarterback, but admissions issues kept him from joining the Huskies. Diaco said going forward he would ideally like to have at least one quarterback in each recruiting class.

Now that the hardest recruiting work is finished, Diaco will concentrate most of his efforts on the returning team. Though he said recruiting work will be done every day, with an emphasis on finding big, skilled defensive players, Diaco is eager to move on to the next stage of his first head coaching job.

"Our main and drilled-down focus for the next four weeks is going to be on our team," Diaco said, "our physical, mental and cultural development. It's really very exciting right now."

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